Right Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING (Prime Minister):

Mr. Speaker, hon. members of the house have learned with deep regret of the death of the Right Hon. Neville Chamberlain. It is fitting that I should place upon the records of this house some few words in honour of his memory.

Mr. Chamberlain left the scenes of his labours in circumstances made especially poignant by the sufferings of his closing days. Canada will not soon forget the fortitude with which he faced, and met, and endured, the

terrors and horrors of war; nor, in the preceding years, his long and earnest fight for peace -a peace which he once described as one which will enable mankind "to live their lives without fear, and to devote their energies and their gifts to the development of their culture, the pursuit of their ideals, and the improvement of their material prosperity."

With the permission of the house, I should like to repeat within these walls the substance of a public tribute I have already paid to his memory.

As the tragedy of Europe and the world began to unfold, Mr. Chamberlain as the Prime Minister of his country bore the greatest burden of all. He found himself the victim of conditions which he did not create, and of circumstances which he could not control. In a world rushing headlong to war, for which Britain was not prepared, peace had been placed in his keeping. From the compelling burdens of those conditions he did not flinch. He fought those circumstances with all the virtues of his race and, above all, with what has been called the greatest of all the virtues-unwavering patience. The judgment of time will determine the responsibility for the conditions and the circumstances which he inherited. It is no less certain that as those who follow us gaze in retrospect upon these tragic scenes, they will see in the late Prime Minister of Great Britain a forthright, fearless, honest. Christian gentleman, who laboured for peace because he loved his fellow men, and who led his country into war as the only means left to preserve their freedom.

When the testing time came at Munich in 1938, he, hating war. found himself opposed by men who were determined to wage it. Whatever may be the present opinion of the pact of Munich held lay some, at the time when it was made it was hailed with joy in Britain, in France, in Canada, in the United States, and also by the people in Italy and in Germany. In fact, the world sighed with profound relief as Mr. Chamberlain gave to the hearts of mankind a new lease of hope. To-day the memory of Munich has no doubt been embittered by the apparent failure to fulfil its promise. That was not the fault of Mr. Chamberlain.

Many men in public life have suffered, often undeservedly, from the fickleness of public opinion, and the forgetfulness of public gratitude; but few men have had the experience of these vicissitudes of fortune crowded more dramatically into so short a period of time. Mr. Chamberlain enjoyed prosperity in humility, and suffered adversity with silent dignity. He moved steadfastly towards peace, when peace was possible. He did not flinch

Right Hon. Neville Chamberlain

from war, when war was inevitable. He bore praise with modesty, and censure without complaint.

History will, I believe, pay his memory these tributes. His passion for peace and his patient search for it gave to the cause of Britain a moral strength in the eyes of the world, invaluable in a struggle between good and evil.

The temporary peace which his patience gained, gave mankind a year free from the horrors of war, unmasked the true character of the new tyranny, and strengthened the preparations of free nations to meet the threat to the Christian civilization which they cherished.

In the midst of danger, discouragement and defeat, Mr. Chamberlain never despaired of his country or of her great cause in the world of men. Canada, to-day, joins with the other nations of the British commonwealth in honouring a faithful servant of humanity.

Hon. R. B. HANSON (Leader of the Opposition):

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister (Mr. Mackenzie King) has given a very eloquent appreciation of Mr. Chamberlain and of 'his position in and contribution to the empire, and I am grateful for the opportunity afforded to me to pay a tribute to his memory.

Mr. Chamberlain was an Englishman-not born in the purple, as it is said, but truly a notable product of that great middle class non-conformist England which made her great in commerce, in industry, and in the sciences and arts.

The son of a great imperialist, he did not choose in his early years to follow in his father's footsteps; rather did he choose the path of commerce and peaceful pursuits. But he was bred in the Birmingham tradition-the tradition of public service-and after serving his fellow citizens in the municipal arena as Lord Mayor of his city it was inevitable with his background that he should enter parliament and become one of the leaders of the nation. He served in several ministries, first as Postmaster General, Paymaster General, Minister of Health and subsequently Chancellor of the Exchequer, and finally Prime Minister of Britain.

It has been said that he was severely competent as an administrator. In the domestic field he did his best work in the health ministry where he instituted many reforms. Yet he was a man who found zest in living. He was a famous fisherman. I know something of the joys of that pastime. On the day he became Chancellor he wrote in his diary:

What a day! Two salmon in the morning and then Chancellor of the Exchequer in the afternoon.

What more could a man want? And yet, when Mr. Baldwin retired in 1937, Mr. Chamberlain went to the highest and greatest position in the empire, Prime Minister, almost as a matter of course. And he took the position without show or ostentation-another duty to be performed, another task to accomplish.

There are those who will say he failed. He laboured for peace in our time. He believed he had attained it, only to find that all his hopes had crashed. He laboured for decency in international affairs, only to find that he had been dealing with a band of robber barons who knew no decency, no honour, and who have had no equals in history. But because he was a man of courage, because he had failed in the other alternative, he did not hesitate to lead the nation into the great struggle-reluctantly no doubt, but none the less courageously.

We all remember Munich! But who is there among us so bold, in the light of the then known facts and pledges, as to condemn Mr. Chamberlain for Munich? Who is there who would not have rejoiced if Munich had in fact succeeded?

History-that history which is written from a true perspective-will do him justice. It may condemn his judgment. It may say he lacked wisdom. It is so easy to criticize and so difficult to achieve really great deeds. But of one thing I am certain: history will record his rectitude, his courage, his high purpose, and his sincerity.

Mr. M. J. COLD WELL (Rosetown-Biggar):

We join with those who to-day pay tribute to one who held high office in the councils of our commonwealth. As a group, and like t'he British Labour party, we disagreed profoundly with his international policies, which he followed sincerely and to the bitter end.

Mr. Chamberlain will, I believe, be regarded by historians as a symbol of the age in which he lived, an age which is drawing uneasily to its close. He represented, as did his immediate predecessor, a high type of British business man in public life. 'As such, his associations and his environment together largely determined his course of action. Lord Byron once wrote:

I live in myself, but I become a portion of that around me.

And so it was with Mr. Chamberlain. He became in a very real sense a portion of that around him, and tried to carry out to the best of his ability, and in all sincerity, that which he believed to be good.

14 COMMONS

Right Hon. Neville Chamberlain

We extend our sympathy to his widow and to those who to-day suffer from a deep sense of personal loss. As to his place in contemporary affairs, history will eventually appraise his work and judge aright, but few will question his integrity or sincerity of purpose.

Mr. J. H. BLACKMORE (Lethbridge):

With the passing of Neville Chamberlain the British empire has lost the services of a great Englishman. He was the last of a family of illustrious British statesmen. Where is he who can divine the motives that impel the thinking, speaking and acting of any man, much less a public man, be he statesman -or be he politician? Even if those motives be known, how almost impossible is it to judge rightly of their worthiness or unworthiness? But of a man's utterances or actions, select even the simplest word or deed, analyse the judgments that led to it, weigh the results, direct and indirect, which derive their cause from it, then seek justly to appraise it, and you will find yourself thoughtful and humble.

It is with thoughtfulness and humility that I regard Chamberlain to-day. In most minds his name is, and for a long time will be, associated with appeasement and Munich. To be fair to him, we must remember that he carried responsibility in Britain while the motherland was staggering from the consequences of the folly of one of the most abjectly fatuous periods in Anglo-Saxon history; a decade when men made almost every kind of blunder in their economic thought and practice, and then allowed themselves to be deluded into almost every kind of disarmament. The marvel is that he agreed to assume office at all. A double marvel is that he did as well as he did. Let us be grateful for his courage and good intentions and good achievements, whatever they might have been. Let us be charitable towards his errors, whatever and whyever they may be found to have been. For judgment let us leave him to the future, when men will be able to arrive at conclusions more calmly considered and better informed than ours possibly can be.

Right Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING (Prime Minister):

I wish to lay on the table copies of recent correspondence between the government of Canada and the government of the United States whereby agreement was reached in regard to certain developments on the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes system. This is the correspondence asked for on Friday

last by the hon. member for Davenport (Mr. MacNicol). It consists of a formal interchange of notes between the Canadian Minister to the United States and the United States Secretary of State embodying the points of understanding arrived at in previous conversations between the two governments.

I should like at the same time to table copies of the correspondence exchanged recently with the premier of Ontario and the premier of Quebec on this subject.

Mr. M. C. SENN (Haldimand):

I should like to address a question to the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Gardiner). I am sure everyone is gratified that he has returned safely from his journey overseas.

My question is: Has the minister any

information to give to the house as to the result of his discussions with the British authorities concerning the sale of Canadian farm products in Great Britain, and if not to-day, when may we expect such report?

Hon. J. G. GARDINER (Minister of Agriculture):

The agreements which were entered into with the British government were just to-day submitted to and accepted by council. They have yet to pass through the ordinary official stages, and I have a definite understanding with the British government that before making any announcement here they shall be put in a position to make the announcement in Britain at the same time. It is my intention to make a full statement to the house as soon as I have an opportunity of doing so in the debate on the address.

Mr. M. J. COLDWELL (Rosetown-Biggar):

I wish to address a question to the Minister of Labour (Mr. McLarty). On Saturday morning forty-five union members were locked out at Windsor, Ontario, by the Chrysler corporation. Attempts to inform their fellow workers peacefully were frustrated by local police, and since then several arrests have been made. Will the government undertake to protect workers against such violations of their democratic rights, which are specifically safeguarded under No. 27 of the defence of Canada regulations, as approved by order in council P.C. 3751 of August 13, 1940?

Private Members' Days

Hon. N. A. McLARTY (Minister of Labour):

The hon. member for Rosetown-Biggar (Mr. Caldwell) was kind enough to give me notice of his intention to ask this question.

1 reeeived on Sunday morning a telegram similar, I believe, to the one he received, in which the chairman of the local committee, No. 195, of the Chrysler corporation employees advised that the corporation had locked out forty-five employees. Subsequently I received notification from the company to the effect that it was not in any sense whatever a lockout, but on account of the transferring of one employee from one department to another thirty-eight men in the other department decided voluntarily to walk out. There being such a wide variance between the two statements as to the facts, I thought the only way to handle the matter properly was to have someone from the Department of Labour go to Windsor and advise us accurately as to the actual facts. That was done; the representative was in Windsor yesterday and is still there. When I received the notice from the hon. member for Rosetown-Biggar I endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to get in touch with him. Until we have a definite statement as to the actual facts I think we should not prejudge the matter or take any premature action in connection with it.